Page 18 of Until You’re Breathless (Insatiable #1)

Jagger

T he reason I couldn’t sleep? Bowie. I don’t know what to fucking do.

The way she looks at me. The way I look at her.

We’ve been spending a fuck ton of time together, and I feel like it still isn’t enough.

I told myself that this wouldn’t be a problem.

I told myself that we wouldn’t go down this road.

But that look in her eyes tells me otherwise.

Tammy walks into my office with a quick knock first, indicating that it’s her.

She’s holding a file folder in her hand, which she lies on the desk, leaning a little too much over.

“Tammy...” I warn. She never does this during business hours and knows better.

“Why don’t you look at me anymore?”

“Because I’m busy preparing for the most important deal of my life, that’s why.”

“It’s because of Bowie, isn’t it.”

“No, it’s not.” I lie, but it’s none of her fucking business, and I’d rather not tell her. We’re not girlfriends.

“I see you two together.”

“You see nothing, and we’ve talked about this.” Tammy has never behaved like a teenager, but this behavior is close to it. “Do we need to have another talk?”

“If by talk you mean fuck, sure.”

I draw in a deep breath and let it out.

“I can lock the door and get on my knees right now if you want to, Jagger. It’s been weeks.”

Just the mention of head from her used to get me hard, but now it just annoys me. “Look, maybe later, okay? It’s too risky right now.” I lie, just wanting to throw her off. “You better get out of here. With the door closed it looks suspicious.”

“To whom.” She accuses. “And forget about it. I know that you have a meeting with Bowie later, so unless she gives you head, you’re out of luck. I’m done waiting for you.”

Thank fucking Christ . “I’m sorry you feel that way.” I say for good measure. She all but pouts and leaves my office as requested.

Not two minutes later, Rush storms into my office, without bothering to knock. “Don’t you have an office? A job?”

“Quit being a fucktard.” Rush spits back. “Look, we need to talk.”

I sigh. “It seems like that’s on everyone’s minds today.”

“Tammy’s got to go.” He says flatly. “Halen’s got someone waiting for you.”

I don’t want to give up this easily. I need to know why, but if I ask, it’ll make it too obvious. “Why does she need to go.”

“Because she’s making the hens ancy, man. You know this. Every chick and every dude in this place knows that you’re banging her.”

Everyone? Dare I ask...

“Before you ask, yes, both Bowie and Jinny know, too. The girl might as well wear a fucking sandwich board and piss all over your desk since Bowie started.”

I don’t even think about it. “Fine. She’s gone. Next.”

“Good. That’s all I had.”

“You seem awfully worked up for just having one issue.”

“I figured you’d fight me more.” He raises a brow. “How come you didn’t fight me more.”

“What’s to fight about. If she’s a distraction she’s a distraction. End of discussion.”

“But you’ve been fucking her for a while.” He says, and I’m pretty sure he’s already where he wants to be in his thought process. “I get it.”

“You get nothing and drop it.”

“Is this going to be another problem?”

“No, so like I said, drop it.”

He ignores my request. “So, is this like a ‘girl that got away’ syndrome thing, a ‘I gotta fuck her’ thing, another Tammy situation, or is this the real fucking thing, man? Because I’ve only got so much manpower for this place, and we’ve got the deal of a lifetime still ahead of us.

” He sits down on the guest chair and rests one leg over the other, propping his feet up on my desk.

He’s got that serious look on his face that warns me not to fuck with him.

“Look, I’m not about to fuck anything up. Give me a little credit. I just agreed to fire Tammy. I hired two of the best staff on yours and Halen’s recommendations, and Bowie is not putting any moves on me. She’s not there. I’m not there. Nor will we be there. This is about business.”

He’s still staring at me. His expression is blank, which means that his wheels are turning. “You’re lying to yourself.”

“About what.”

“Jagger, you’ve got to be straight here. You’ve got to decide where you’re going with all this.”

“What do you mean, man.” I ask calmly, hearing him out.

“I’m not about to tell you how to run your life, Jagger.”

“It sure sounds like it.”

He rises. “Fuck you.”

“Fuck you, too.” I seethe as he walks out.

“That was the best dismissal I’ve ever done.” Jinny brags, walking into my office.

I smirk. “You enjoyed that, did you.”

“Sure did.”

“You know that you could have gotten Margaret to do that, right.”

“And miss all the fun?”

I snort a laugh. “You are something else.”

“I am. Now, give me someone else to fire. I love it.”

“I can tell. But unfortunately, there isn’t anyone else. Unless you’re not telling me something.”

“Nope. Margaret sort of sucks but I’m stuck with her until Halen can find me someone better. Until then, I steer this ship.”

“And you’re doing a good job, too.”

“Thanks.” She says, walking towards the door. “And not just for letting me fire the whore, either.” A wink.

I wink back at her. But neither of us says anything else.

Numbers are flying through my head as I try to sleep.

I thought I got everything down on paper, but I guess I’m wrong.

From all the conversations with Bowie, I can guess that she’s doing the same thing, so I text her.

Sure enough, she answers right away, saying that she’s still up, but not just because of work. Then the phone rings. “Hey.”

“Hey. Sorry to call, but I hate explaining this type of shit over text.”

“What’s up?”

She sighs. “Let’s just say that Jinny has a guest over. And despite the fact that I’m in my own suite, I can still hear her.”

“It’s like high school all over again.”

“Tell me about it.”

“You wanna crash on my couch?” I hear it before it even comes out.

“Um...okay.” She chuckles. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

I go for noble. “Well, what good are you going to be to me tomorrow if you don’t get any sleep?”

“True.”

“I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

“Don’t sweat it.”

Suddenly, there’s a bead of sweat dripping down my back, just thinking about Bowie staying over.

How the fuck am I going to get through this?

Okay, here’s the plan. I invite her in, have a tea with her, spend ten minutes reviewing numbers, make up the guest room and go to bed.

I’m not going to think about her, I’m not going to even look at her more than I have to.

I can do this. I’m a grown man. She’s a woman scorned and heartbroken.

Remember that. But the plan all goes to shit when she shows up in jeans, a t-shirt, and her hair all down, flowing on her chest.

She’s fucking stunning.

She’s as sexy as hell.

She’s as smart as fuck.

And she’s the best thing that ever happened to me.

In high school, and now.

But there’s still a chance that a) she doesn’t feel anything for me, and b) she’s still just waiting for the perfect moment to run back to Boston. Also, this is supposed to be a professional relationship. I don’t want to fuck anything up.

“Hey. Do you ever sleep?” She snuffles a laugh as I open the door.

“Not much.” I admit with a sigh. “Come on in. I’ve got the guest room made up for you. Do you want some tea?”

“Sure. If you’re making some.”

“Yeah, sure.” I say, taking her bag for her, bringing it to the guest room.

“Nice place.”

“You want a tour?”

She yawns. “Maybe later.”

I chuckle. “Ah, so you are tired.”

“I am. I was almost asleep when the first climax hit.” She snorts.

“Fun times.”

“For her.”

I bring her bag to the room and return as the kettle boils. “I’ve got chamomile, mint or lemon. Pick your poison.”

“Chamomile. It helps me sleep.”

“Sounds good.”

I pour us both a tea and we go sit in the living room. “I’m going to London to tour Drummond Motors with Wesley Hopkins. I haven’t firmed anything up with him yet on dates, but I thought you should come.”

Her eyes light up. “Are you kidding me? Of course I want to go! How did you even get him to agree to a meeting? I thought he only let his subordinates do the grunt work?”

“It appears as though he’s had a change of heart. He wants to be front and center with this new project. At least, that’s what his CFO says.”

“Oh my God. I’ve always wanted to meet Wesley. He’s got such charisma, such vision. I’ve watched every YouTube video out there of him. Do you know that he’s got the exact same car that your grandpa had? A nineteen-fifty-seven Chevy Bel-Air?”

“Yeah, I knew that. He’s a pretty cool guy. I’ve spoken to him on a Zoom meeting once. But I’ve never met him personally.”

“This is so exciting.” She says, sipping her tea. “I can’t wait to go.”

“Me neither if you want the truth. Axl’s busting my balls to take him, too, but I don’t need his attitude tagging along. The last thing I need is for him to spread his love all throughout fucking Europe, too.”

“Maybe he can go when it isn’t to do with business.”

“Oh, believe me, he has full intentions of chewing Mister Hopkins’s ear off about motors.”

“I get it. But he shouldn’t want to steal your thunder.”

I chew the pad of my thumb before speaking. “That’s something that I haven’t mentioned to you yet.”

She looks at me with those big blue eyes and I could fucking melt. Jesus Christ. “He’s been up my ass to make an engine with me. A racing engine.”

“I’m not surprised. Didn’t you send him a prototype light years ago?”

I nod. “Yeah. And although it was a hell of a lot of fun, and I learned so much from him, it’s also become a thorn in my side ever since.”

“Well, you should do business with him.” She advises kindly. “He’s your best friend, isn’t he? And he’s the dude with all the knowledge about racing engines. He just wants to do something together with you. It would probably mean a lot to you both.”